Staff profile

Emma Cave is a Professor of Healthcare Law, legal scholar and Director of the Centre for Ethics and Law in the Life Sciences. She works on emerging biotechnologies and legal aspects of medical treatment. Interdisciplinary in approach, her work bridges science and its clinical application. She has worked alongside health professionals, scientists, philosophers, sociologists and economists and with policy-makers, professional regulators, think-tanks and Parliamentarians.

Legal aspects of medical treatment

Past research projects have examined the medical treatment of critically ill children, the adequacy of ethical advice in the COVID-19 pandemic (funded by the British Academy) and the implications of the Supreme Court judgment Montgomery v Lanarkshire Health Board [2015] on informed consent (funded by the ESRC IAA). She held a Scottish Parliament Academic Fellowship to produce a Scottish Parliament Information Centre Briefing on information consent. Much of her specialist advice focuses on translating this research beyond academia.

Advisory roles

She has advised the House of Commons Health and Social Care Committee as a core member of their Independent Expert Panel on transition from child to adult care (2026), palliative care (2026), patient safety (2025), pharmacy (2024) and digitisation of the NHS (2023). She has informed public inquiries as a member of the ethics advisory group to the COVID-19 Inquiry (2024-6) and as a co-convenor of the medical ethics report to the Infected Blood Inquiry in 2020. She has contributed on multiple occasions to professional guidance, chairing the GMC's Good Medical Practice Advisory Forum (2022-23), serving on the BMA's Medical Ethics Committee (from 2024 to present) and as working group member producing guidance on Genetic Testing in Childhood  and involvement of the police following abortion. 

Regulating emerging biotechnologies

She has a longstanding interest in the ethical and regulatory challenges raised by emerging biotechnologies, particularly where scientific innovation tests established legal categories and governance frameworks. She was a member of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (2018-21) where she was Deputy Chair of the Statutory Approvals Committee. She chaired the Nuffield Council on Bioethics working group on Stem Cell-Based Embryo Models (2024-25) and subsequently sat on their working group on the 14-Day Rule for Human Embryo Culture (2025-26). Her approach emphasises proportionate, transparent and publicly accountable regulation, attentive both to scientific potential and to the ethical limits of permissible research.

• Health law, especially matters relating to consent and capacity
• Regulation of emerging biotechnologies

• 2025 - 2026: Member of the 'Holistic management of treatment withdrawal and end of life care inpatients with implantable electronic devices: a clinical consensus statement of the European Heart Rhythm Association, the Heart Failure Association and the Association of Cardiovascular Nursing and Allied professions of the ESC': The group are developing a consensus statement.
• 2025 - 2026: Member of the Nuffield Council on Bioethics Working Group reviewing the 14 day rule for human embryo research: This project examines arguments for and against extending the 14-day limit on human embryo research, informed by a large-scale public dialogue conducted with UKRI Sciencewise.
• 2024 - 2025: Chair of Nuffield Council on Bioethics Working Group on Stem Cell-Based Embryo Models: Chaired working group and co-authored the 2024 report recommending staged regulation of embryo models.
• 2024 - 2027: Member of the British Medical Association Medical Ethics Committee: The BMA MEC debates ethical issues on the relationship between the medical profession, the public and the state and provides doctors with guidance.
• 2023 - 2026: Member of the UK Covid-19 Inquiry Ethics Advisory Group: The EAG provided independent review of the design and approach of Every Story Matters campaign.
• 2022 - 2027: Core member of the House of Commons Health and Social Care Committee's Independent Expert Panel: The Health and Social Care Committee, a UK Parliament Select Committee, established an Independent Expert Panel to support its work by issuing independent evaluations on specific areas. Cave was a core member 2022-2027.
• 2021 - 2023: Chair of the General Medical Council's Good Medical Practice Advisory Forum: The GMC is the independent regulator for medical professionals. Cave chaired an advisory forum advising on the review of their core guidance, Good Medical Practice.
• 2020 - 2023: Co-Convenor of Medical Ethics Group report to the Infected Blood Inquiry: The Infected Blood Inquiry reported in 2024. Cave and Farsides co-convened the Medical Ethics expert report, published in April 2020, and provided oral evidence to the Inquiry.
• 2018 - 2021: Member of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority and Deputy Chair of the Statutory Approvals Committee: The HFEA is the UK’s independent regulator of fertility treatment and research using human embryos. The Statutory Approvals Committee licences (inter alia) PGT-M and mitochondrial donation treatment.
• 2017: Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Authority:

Authored book

• Medicine, Patients and the Law
  
  Brazier, M., Cave, E., & Heywood, R. (2023). Medicine, Patients and the Law. MUP.

Chapter in book

• Adolescent consent to treatment for gender dysphoria in England and Wales
  
  Cave, E. (2026). Adolescent consent to treatment for gender dysphoria in England and Wales. In J. Miola & L. Austin (Eds.), Research Handbook on Medical Consent (pp. 310-327). Edward Elgar. https://doi.org/10.4337/9781803920535.00024
• Teenage decision making and the law in England and Wales
  
  Cave, E. (2026). Teenage decision making and the law in England and Wales. In J. Brierley, S. Blackburn, & D. Archard (Eds.), Great Ormond Street Hospital Textbook of Paediatric Bioethics and Law. Oxford University Press.
• A Future Orientated View of Autonomy
  
  Cave, E. (2025). A Future Orientated View of Autonomy. In L. Forsberg, I. Black, & A. Skelton (Eds.), Consenting Children: Autonomy, Well-being, Responsibility (pp. 136-152). British Academy.
• Making Reproductive Subjects Visible: The Role and Limits of Consent
  
  Cave, E. (2025). Making Reproductive Subjects Visible: The Role and Limits of Consent. In S. Halliday, R. Brione, & J. Nicholls (Eds.), Narratives of Consent and Reproductive Subjects: Tales of Invisibility. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003262954-9

Journal Article

• The Boundaries of Best Interests: The Townsend v Epsom decision
  
  Cave, E., Archard, D., & Brierley, J. (in press). The Boundaries of Best Interests: The Townsend v Epsom decision. Clinical Ethics.
• Regulating Human Reproductive and Developmental Biotechnologies: A UK Reference Model
  
  Cave, E. (2026). Regulating Human Reproductive and Developmental Biotechnologies: A UK Reference Model. Journal of Law and the Biosciences, Article lsag022. https://doi.org/10.1093/jlb/lsag022
• Anticipatory regulation of stem cell-based technologies: A UK Case Study
  
  Cave, E., & Jackson, E. (2026). Anticipatory regulation of stem cell-based technologies: A UK Case Study. Trends in Biotechnology. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tibtech.2026.09.017
• The Value of Public Inquiries, Ethical Accountability, and Patient Voices: Reflections on the Infected Blood Inquiry
  
  Gorman, R., Smith, C., Farsides, B., & Cave, E. (2026). The Value of Public Inquiries, Ethical Accountability, and Patient Voices: Reflections on the Infected Blood Inquiry. Haemophilia, 32(3), 593-599. https://doi.org/10.1111/hae.70296
• Human stem cell-based embryo models: innovation, ethics, and policy
  
  Martinez Arias, A., Rivron, N., Tajbakhsh, S., Johnston, J., Alev, C., Bally-Cuif, L., Böke, E., Cavazza, T., Cave, E., Cyranoski, D., David, L., Esteban, M. A., Fu, J., Geijsen, N., de Graeff, N., Hanna, J. H., Hopwood, N., Inamdar, M. S., Lanner, F., … Yu, L. (2026). Human stem cell-based embryo models: innovation, ethics, and policy. Human Reproduction. Advance online publication, Article deag035. https://doi.org/10.1093/humrep/deag035
• Last Resort as a Justification for Compulsory Nasogastric Tube Feeding of Adults with Anorexia Nervosa
  
  Cave, E., & Jenkins, R. (2026). Last Resort as a Justification for Compulsory Nasogastric Tube Feeding of Adults with Anorexia Nervosa. Medical Law International. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1177/09685332261424924
• 50 Years of the Congenital Disabilities (Civil Liability) Act 1976: A Spent Statute?
  
  Craig, P., & Cave, E. (2026). 50 Years of the Congenital Disabilities (Civil Liability) Act 1976: A Spent Statute? Medical Law Review, 34(1), Article fwag003. https://doi.org/10.1093/medlaw/fwag003
• What’s in a Name? Abbasi and Another v Newcastle Upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust; Haastrup v King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust [2025] UKSC 15
  
  Jeyaraj, R., Cave, E., Archard, D., & Brierley, J. (2026). What’s in a Name? Abbasi and Another v Newcastle Upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust; Haastrup v King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust [2025] UKSC 15. Medical Law Review, 34(1), Article fwaf047. https://doi.org/10.1093/medlaw/fwaf047
• Legal decisions on longstanding severe eating disorders
  
  Tan, J., Cave, E., Ruck Keene, A., Kern, N., Bradshaw, A., Griffiths, J., Jenkins, R., & Robinson, P. (2025). Legal decisions on longstanding severe eating disorders. British Journal of Psychiatry. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1192/bjp.2025.10490
• Evolving Judicial Approaches to Longstanding Anorexia Nervosa
  
  Cave, E., & Tan, J. (2025). Evolving Judicial Approaches to Longstanding Anorexia Nervosa. Clinical Ethics, 20(4), 222-232. https://doi.org/10.1177/14777509251391973
• Advocating distinct regulatory paths for embryos and embryo-like structures
  
  Cave, E. (2025). Advocating distinct regulatory paths for embryos and embryo-like structures. Journal of Law and the Biosciences, 12(1), Article lsaf008. https://doi.org/10.1093/jlb/lsaf008

Report

• Evaluation of Palliative care in England, HC 632
  
  Health and Social Care Committee Independent Expert Panel. (2025). Evaluation of Palliative care in England, HC 632. House of Commons.
• Human stem cell-based embryo models: A review of ethical and governance questions
  
  Human stem cell-based embryo models: A review of ethical and governance questions. (2024). Nuffield Council on Bioethics.
• Evaluation of the Government’s progress on meeting patient safety recommendations. HC 362
  
  Health and Social Care Committee Independent Expert Panel. (2024). Evaluation of the Government’s progress on meeting patient safety recommendations. HC 362. UK Parliament.
• Evaluation of the Government’s commitments in the area of pharmacy in England. HC1310
  
  Health and Social Care Committee Independent Expert Panel. (2024). Evaluation of the Government’s commitments in the area of pharmacy in England. HC1310. UK Parliament.
• Evaluation of Government Commitments made on the digitisation of the NHS. HC 780
  
  Health and Social Care Committee Independent Expert Panel. (2023). Evaluation of Government Commitments made on the digitisation of the NHS. HC 780. UK Parliament.
• Expert Report to the Infected Blood Inquiry: Medical Ethics
  
  Cave, E., Farsides, B., Kazarian, M., Kerridge, I., & Savulescu, J. (2020). Expert Report to the Infected Blood Inquiry: Medical Ethics. Infected Blood Inquiry.